The present invention relates to an adhesion promoting agent, to coating compositions utilizing the adhesion promoting agent for coating thermoplastic and thermosetting polymeric materials, and to the coated polymeric materials.
Polymeric materials, such as thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) and reaction injected molding urethane (RIM), are useful in many applications, such as automobile parts and accessories, containers, household appliances and other commercial items. It is often desirable to coat articles made from such polymeric materials with organic coating compositions to decorate or protect them from degradation when exposed to atmospheric weathering conditions such as sunlight, moisture, heat and cold. To achieve longer lasting and more durable parts, it is important for the coatings to be tightly adhered to the surface of the article.
Polymeric substrates made from a variety of thermoplastic and thermosetting materials have widely varying surface properties, including surface tension, roughness and flexibility, which make strong adhesion of organic coatings difficult, particularly after aging or environmental exposure of the coated polymeric materials. To facilitate adhesion of organic coatings to polymeric substrates, the substrate can be pretreated using an adhesion promoter layer or tie coat, e.g., a thin layer about 0.25 mils (6.35 microns) thick, or by flame or corona pretreatment. For automotive applications, it is important that the coating composition and/or adhesion promoter layer is resistant to fuel damage, i.e. maintains good adhesion of the coating to the substrate even if fuel is accidentally spilled onto the coated substrate.
Typically, adhesion promoter layers used on TPO surfaces contain chlorinated polyolefins, some examples of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,997,882; 5,319,032; and 5,397,602, herein incorporated by reference. However, chlorinated polyolefins provide some processing limitations. For example, while chlorinated polyolefins are soluble in aromatic solvents, THF, and chlorinated solvents, they are not readily soluble in solvents such as alcohols, ketones, or esters which are preferred for use in coating compositions. Further, conventional chlorinated polyolefins typically have no curing or crosslinking sites and therefore must be used at high molecular weights to have a positive effect on coating strength.
Coating compositions that exhibit acceptable adhesion directly to polymeric materials, such as TPO and RIM, without the use of separate adhesion promoter layers or tie coats have been developed. For example, polyolefin diols have been used in coating compositions to improve adhesion to polymeric substrates without the use of separate adhesion promoter layers or tie coats. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,469, herein incorporated by reference, discloses a coating composition containing a saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymer having terminal hydroxyl groups.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,646, herein incorporated by reference, discloses a liquid adhesion promoting coating composition having a blend of a saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymer and a chlorinated polyolefin.
Coating compositions having reacted adhesion promoters have also been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,984 discloses a coating composition having an adhesion promoting material obtained by reacting a chlorinated polyolefin, maleic acid anhydride, acryl or methacryl modified hydrogenated polybutadiene containing at least one acryloyl group or methacryloyl group per unit molecule, and organic peroxide.
JP 6-16746 discloses a resin coating composition having either a polydiene and acryl-based oligomer or a polyester-based oligomer grafted onto a chlorinated polyolefin.
While these known adhesion promoting compositions are generally acceptable for commercial applications, they tend to either have good adhesion to polymeric substrates with poor to moderate fuel resistance; good fuel resistance but with commercially acceptable adhesion to only a narrow range of polymeric substrate types; or good adhesion and good fuel resistance but only at high levels of chlorinated polyolefin resulting in high VOC.
It would be desirable to provide an adhesion promoting agent that could be used either in an adhesion promoter layer or as an ingredient in a coating composition that improves coating adhesion to polymeric substrates and also provides adequate fuel resistance for automotive applications.
An adhesion promoting agent of the invention comprises a graft copolymer comprising (i) a halogenated polyolefin polymer having at least one reactive functionality, and (ii) a substantially saturated hydrocarbon polymer having more than one reactive functionality, at least one reactive functionality of the hydrocarbon polymer being reactive with the reactive functionality of the halogenated polyolefin.
An adhesion promoting agent for promoting the adhesion of a coating onto a surface of a polymeric substrate comprises a graft copolymer comprising (i) a chlorinated polypropylene polymer having at least one reactive functionality selected from the group consisting of anhydride, carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, epoxy, and isocyanate; and (ii) a substantially saturated polybutadiene polymer having more than one reactive functionality. At least one reactive functionality of the polybutadiene polymer is reactive with the reactive functionality of the chlorinated polypropylene polymer and is selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, amine, carboxylic acid, epoxy, and isocyanate.
A coating composition of the invention comprises (a) at least one crosslinkable film-forming material and (b) an adhesion promoting agent. The adhesion promoting agent comprises a graft copolymer comprising (i) a halogenated polyolefin polymer having at least one reactive functionality; and (ii) a substantially saturated hydrocarbon polymer having more than one reactive functionality, at least one reactive functionality of the hydrocarbon polymer being reactive with the reactive functionality of the halogenated polyolefin.
A coated article of the invention comprises a polymeric substrate and a coating deposited over at least a portion of the substrate. The coating is formed from a coating composition comprising (a) at least one crosslinkable film-forming material; and (b) an adhesion promoting agent. The adhesion promoting agent comprises a graft copolymer comprising (i) a halogenated polyolefin polymer having at least one reactive functionality; and (ii) a substantially saturated hydrocarbon polymer having more than one reactive functionality, at least one reactive functionality of the hydrocarbon polymer being reactive with the reactive functionality of the halogenated polyolefin.
A method of promoting the adhesion of a coating to a polymeric substrate comprises applying a coating composition to a surface of a polymeric substrate, the coating composition comprising an adhesion promoting agent comprising a graft copolymer comprising (i) a halogenated polyolefin polymer having at least one reactive functionality; and (ii) a substantially saturated hydrocarbon polymer having more than one reactive functionality, at least one reactive functionality of the hydrocarbon polymer being reactive with the reactive functionality of the halogenated polyolefin polymer.
The present invention also provides polymeric articles coated with the coating compositions of the invention.
Other than in the operating examples or where otherwise specified, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term xe2x80x9caboutxe2x80x9d.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cpolymerxe2x80x9d is meant to refer to oligomers and both homopolymers and copolymers. Any numeric references to amounts, unless otherwise specified, are xe2x80x9cby weightxe2x80x9d. Molecular weight quantities, whether Mn or Mw, are those determinable from gel permeation chromatography using polystyrene as a standard. The term xe2x80x9cequivalent weightxe2x80x9d is a calculated value based on the relative amounts of the various ingredients used in making the specified material and is based on the solids of the specified material. The relative amounts are those that result in the theoretical weight in grams of the material, like a polymer, produced from the ingredients and give a theoretical number of the particular functional group that is present in the resulting polymer. The theoretical polymer weight is divided by the theoretical number to give the equivalent weight. For example, hydroxyl equivalent weight is based on the equivalents of reactive pendant and/or terminal hydroxyl groups in the hydroxyl-containing polymer.
An adhesion promoting agent of the invention includes a graft copolymer prepared from one or more of the following reactants: (a) a halogenated polyolefin polymer having at least one reactive functionality and (b) a substantially saturated hydrocarbon polymer having more than one reactive functionality, at least one reactive functionality of the saturated hydrocarbon polymer being reactive with the reactive functionality of the halogenated polyolefin.
Useful halogenated polyolefin polymers for forming the graft copolymer include one or more halogen atoms, such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine. Chlorine is presently preferred. Suitable halogenated polyolefins include halogenated polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene-propylene copolymer, polyisobutylene, polybutene, and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. Chlorinated polypropylene is presently preferred.
Chlorinated polyolefins suitable for use in the present invention preferably have a chlorine content ranging from about 5 to about 70 weight percent, more preferably about 10 to about 30 weight percent, and most preferably about 18 to about 25 weight percent based on the total solid weight of the final chlorinated polyolefin. The chlorinated polyolefins used in the present invention can be solid, in powder or pelletized form, or could be liquid. Suitable chlorinated polyolefins can have a weight average molecular weight ranging from about 10,000 to about 150,000, preferably from about 20,000 to about 125,000, and most preferably from about 25,000 to about 105,000, as determined by gel permeation chromatography using a polystyrene standard. Examples of suitable chlorinated polyolefins are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,997,882; 5,319,032; and 5,397,602, herein incorporated by reference.
The chlorinated polyolefin preferably includes one or more reactive functionalities to facilitate formation of the graft copolymer as described below. Suitable functionalities include anhydride (preferred), carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, epoxy, and isocyanate functionalities. Suitable chlorinated polyolefins for the practice of the invention include chlorinated maleated polypropylene polymers commercially available from Toyo Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd. under the trademarks HARDLEN 13 MLJ and HARDLEN CY9122P.
In the practice of the invention, one or more hydrogenated or substantially saturated hydrocarbon polymers are grafted onto the halogenated polyolefin polymer, such as a chlorinated maleated polypropylene polymer as described above, to form a graft copolymer. Preferably, the hydrocarbon polymer contains about 85 to about 99 weight percent of hydrocarbon units and less than about 13 percent by weight of heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. Preferably, the hydrocarbon polymer contains less than 6 percent by weight of heteroatoms, more preferably less than 3 percent, and most preferably less than 2 percent. Because of the minimal heteroatom content, the hydrocarbon polymer generally has a high molecular weight. Typically, the number average molecular weight of the hydrocarbon polymer ranges from about 1000 to 20,000 as determined by gel permeation chromatography using polystyrene as a standard.
In a preferred practice, the hydrocarbon polymer is at least xe2x80x9csubstantially saturatedxe2x80x9d, i.e., the hydrocarbon polymer has been hydrogenated, usually after polymerization, such that at least about 90 percent and preferably at least about 95 percent of the carbon to carbon double bonds of the hydrocarbon polymer are saturated. Methods for hydrogenating unsaturated hydrocarbon polymers are well known to those skilled in the art. Examples of useful hydrogenation processes include hydrogenation in the presence of such catalysts as Raney Nickel, noble metals such as platinum and the like, soluble transition metal catalysts and titanium catalysts as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,755, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The hydrocarbon polymer preferably contains an average of more than one reactive functionality, e.g., terminal or pendant functional group, per molecule. Preferably, the hydrocarbon polymer, which can be present as a mixture of different hydrocarbon polymers, contains an average of about 1.5 to about 6 terminal or pendent polar groups per molecule. At least one functional group (first group) of the hydrocarbon polymer is capable of reacting with the functionality of the halogenated polyolefin to form the graft copolymer of the invention. At least one other functional group (second group) of the hydrocarbon polymer is capable of reacting with a crosslinking agent, such as described below. The reactive first and second functional groups of the hydrocarbon polymer can be the same or different. Preferably, the hydrocarbon polymer contains at least two terminal polar groups per molecule.
The polar groups of the hydrocarbon polymer capable of reacting with the halogenated polyolefin preferably include carboxyl groups, hydroxyl groups, amino groups, amide groups, mercaptan groups, epoxy groups, isocyanate groups, and combinations thereof. Preferably, the polar groups are hydroxyl groups. The other functional group capable of reacting with the crosslinking agent can be one of these functional groups or can be a different group, such as carbamate. More preferably, the hydrocarbon polymer contains two terminal hydroxyl groups.
In a preferred embodiment, the hydrocarbon polymer comprises one or more substantially saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers. Polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers made using isoprene or butadiene, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,486,570 and 5,376,745 (which are hereby incorporated by reference) and which are substantially saturated, are suitable for use in the present invention. Polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers of this type generally have a hydroxyl equivalent weight of between about 500 and about 20,000. Preferably, the saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymer is a dihydroxy polybutadiene which contains about two terminal hydroxyl groups, one at each end of the polymer, and has a hydroxyl equivalent weight of about 1,000 to about 5000.
Suitable substantially saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers include those synthesized by free radical polymerization of dienes or anionic polymerization of conjugated diene hydrocarbons, such as butadiene or isoprene, with lithium initiators. The process steps for preparing polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers by anionic polymerization are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,039,593; Re. 27,145; and 5,376,745, which are hereby incorporated by reference. Such polymers are typically made with a di-lithium initiator, such as a compound formed by reaction of two moles of sec-butyllithium with one mole of diisopropylbenzene. The polymerization of butadiene can be performed in a solvent composed of 90 percent by weight cyclohexane and 10 percent by weight diethylether. The molar ratio of di-initiator to monomer determines the molecular weight of the polymer. The polymer is capped with two moles of ethylene oxide and terminated with two moles of methanol to produce the dihydroxy polybutadiene. Suitable polyhydroxylated polydienes include KRATON LIQUID(trademark) POLYMERS HPVM 2200 series products and Shell Diol L-2203, both produced by Shell Chemical Co.
Other suitable substantially saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers preferably have at least about 90 weight percent repeat units derived from conjugated dienes. The monomers used to form the polymers include olefins having from 2 to 6 carbon atoms such as are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,518,753 and 3,652,732, which are hereby incorporated by reference. Optionally, the polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers can be formed from up to 50 mole percent of ethylenically unsaturated comonomers having from 2 to 10 carbon atoms and substituents including aromatics, halogens, cyanides, esters, and hydroxy esters. Examples of such polymers are hydroxyl terminated diene-based polymers including anionically polymerized dienes which are given hydroxyl groups in the chain termination step or free radically polymerized dienes such as those initiated with hydrogen peroxide. Such hydrogenated substantially saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,115,007 and 5,221,707, which are hereby incorporated by reference. These polymers preferably have a Mn ranging from about 500 to about 20,000 and more preferably about 1,000 to about 8,000 grams per mole and have from 2 to 6 and more preferably from 2 to 4 hydroxyl end groups per molecule.
Useful hydroxyl terminated hydrogenated diene polymers include POLYTAIL polymers, such as POLYTAIL HA, POLYTAIL H and POLYTAIL H10, which are commercially available from Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. When some of these polymers are hydrogenated, they form crystalline solids such as the crystalline POLYTAIL H polymer which has a melting point of about 60xc2x0 C. to about 70xc2x0 C.
POLYTAIL HA polymer is a non-crystalline, linear, hydrogenated butadiene diol polymer liquid having about 10 percent 1,4-addition repeating units and about 90 percent 1,2-addition repeating units. POLYTAIL HA has about two terminal hydroxyl groups per molecule and is a viscous liquid at low molecular weights such as the peak molecular weight of 2000 as described in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,866,120 and 4,020,125, which are hereby incorporated by reference. POLYTAIL H polymer has hydrogenated trans 1,4-, cis 1,4- and 1,2-addition repeat units and 2 or more hydroxyls per molecule.
The POLYTAIL H, HA and H10 polymers have the generalized structure: 
wherein X and Y are randomly distributed and the structure can contain additional xe2x80x94OH groups. The X/Y ratio, the xe2x80x94OH number per polymeric molecule, the physical state at 25xc2x0 C., and the melting points of the POLYTAIL materials are as follows:
Another example of a suitable hydrogenated butadiene polymer is NISSO GI-2000 polymer produced by Nippon Soda which includes low molecular weight hydrogenated butadiene polymers which have terminal functional groups and 1,2-addition of about 84 percent.
Preferred hydrocarbon polymers for the practice of the invention are substantially hydrogenated polydienes which contain greater than 70 percent of 1,4-addition repeating units, and more preferably about 80 percent or more of 1,4-addition repeating units such as POLYTAIL H and POLYTAIL H10 described above. As discussed below, when substantially saturated polyhydroxylated polydiene polymers having hydroxy functionality and a predominant amount of hydrogenated trans 1,4-, and cis 1,4-repeat units as opposed to hydrogenated vinyl 1,2-repeat units are used, better adhesion to polymeric substrates may be obtained.
Preferably, the hydrocarbon polymer is essentially free of monohydroxylated hydrogenated diene polymers, i.e., the adhesion promoting agent preferably contains less than 25 weight percent of monohydroxylated diene polymers, more preferably less than about 10 weight percent, and most preferably the coating composition is free of monohydroxylated diene polymers.
The hydrocarbon polymer, e.g., hydrogenated hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene polymer, may be grafted onto the halogenated polyolefin, e.g., chlorinated maleated polypropylene polymer, in any conventional or well known method to form the graft copolymer of the invention. An exemplary grafting method is discussed below in which one of the reactive functionalities, e.g., a terminal hydroxyl group, on the hydrocarbon polymer, e.g., hydrogenated hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene, reacts with a reactive functionality, e.g., anhydride of the maleinized halogenated polyolefin, of the halogenated polyolefin, e.g., chlorinated polyolefin (CPO), to form the graft copolymer of the invention. A specific polymerization method is described in more detail in the example below. The grafted copolymer is useful as an adhesion promoting agent in accordance with the present invention. In the currently preferred embodiment, the weight percent of hydrogenated hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene to CPO in the graft copolymer preferably ranges from about 90%:10% to 10%:90%, more preferably about 90%:10% to about 25%:75%, and most preferably about 90%:10% to about 50%:50%, respectively, based on the total weight of the graft copolymer.
The above adhesion promoting agent of the invention can be incorporated into coating compositions of the present invention. Such coating compositions may be used as an adhesion promoter layer, a primer coating, a colored topcoat, a colored basecoat, or a clearcoat applied directly to a polymeric substrate. The term xe2x80x9cdirectly onto a polymeric substratexe2x80x9d or similar terminology means that no flame or corona pretreatment, separate adhesion promoter layer or tie coat is required. The coating compositions of the invention can be solid (such as a powder), liquid or mixtures thereof. Preferably, the coating compositions are in the form of a liquid or dispersion.
A coating composition of the invention preferably comprises one or more adhesion promoting agents of the invention and one or more crosslinkable film-forming materials. The composition may also include one or more crosslinking materials if the film-forming material is not self-crosslinking.
In a preferred embodiment, the adhesion promoting agent is present in the coating composition in an amount ranging from about 1 to about 55 weight percent of the coating composition, preferably about 10 to about 45 weight percent, and more preferably about 20 to about 35 weight percent based on the total solid resin weight of the coating composition.
The adhesion promoting agent is used to promote adhesion of a crosslinkable film-forming system, e.g., adhesion promoting agent, film-forming resin, and crosslinking material, to the polymeric substrate. In a preferred embodiment, the film-forming system comprises about 40 to about 99.9 weight percent of the coating composition on a total solids basis, more preferably about 55 to about 95 weight percent, and most preferably about 60 to about 80 weight percent.
The crosslinkable film-forming system may comprise one or more crosslinkable film-forming resins and one or more crosslinking materials which are capable of reacting with the crosslinkable film-forming resin and/or one or more of the reactive functionalities of the graft copolymer, e.g., a reactive functionality on the hydrocarbon polymer portion of the graft copolymer. As used herein, xe2x80x9cfilm-formingxe2x80x9d means that the film-forming resin(s) forms a self-supporting continuous film on at least a horizontal surface of the substrate upon curing at ambient or elevated temperature and also includes oligomeric or polymeric materials that upon removal of any solvents or carriers present in the polymer emulsion, dispersion, suspension or solution, can coalesce to form a film on at least a horizontal surface of the substrate and are capable of curing into a continuous film.
Suitable crosslinkable film-forming resins include acrylic polymers and copolymers such as acrylic polyol polymers and polyacrylourethanes; polyester polymers and copolymers such as polyester urethanes and polyester polyol polymers; polyurethane polymers and copolymers such as polyether urethanes and the like. These polymers generally have active hydrogens either in their chemical structure and/or from functional groups that can be present on the polymers, such as one or more hydroxyl, carboxyl, amido, primary and/or secondary amino, epoxy, thiol, carbamate groups and the like. Examples of useful crosslinkable film-forming resins include oligomers and polymers such as hydroxy functional polyester oligomers or polymers, carbamate functional polyester oligomers or polymers, hydroxy functional acrylic oligomers or polymers, carbamate functional acrylic oligomers or polymers, hydroxy functional urethane oligomers or polymers, carbamate functional urethane oligomers or polymers, epoxy functional acrylic oligomers or polymers and mixtures thereof.
Suitable crosslinkable acrylic polymers include crosslinkable homopolymers and copolymers of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and/or alkyl esters thereof having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms in the alkyl group which can be optionally copolymerized with one or more other polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomers. Suitable alkyl esters of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid include methyl methacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, n-butyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate. Suitable copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomers include vinyl aromatic compounds such as styrene and vinyl toluene; nitriles such as acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile; vinyl and vinylidene halides such as vinyl chloride and vinylidene fluoride and vinyl esters such as vinyl acetate. Suitable active hydrogen functional monomers can be used in addition to the other acrylic monomers mentioned above and include, for example, hydroxyethyl acrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, hydroxypropyl acrylate, and hydroxypropyl methacrylate. Epoxy functional acrylics are also useful.
The acrylic polymer can be prepared by free radical initiated solution polymerization techniques in the presence of suitable free radical initiators such as organic peroxides or azo compounds, for example, benzoyl peroxide or 2,2xe2x80x2-azobis(2-methylbutane nitrile) in an organic solvent in which the monomers and resultant polymer are soluble, such as xylene, toluene, or ketones such as methyl amyl ketone. Alternately, the acrylic polymer can be prepared by emulsion or dispersion polymerization techniques well known to those skilled in the art.
Suitable polyester polymers include alkyds and can be prepared by condensation of polyhydric alcohols and polycarboxylic acids. Suitable polyhydric alcohols include ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, 1,6-hexylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, diethylene glycol, glycerol, trimethylolpropane, and pentaerythritol. Suitable polycarboxylic acids include succinic acid, adipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, phthalic acid, tetrahydrophthalic acid, hexahydrophthalic acid, and trimellitic acid. Functional equivalents of the polycarboxylic acids, such as anhydrides where they exist, or lower alkyl esters of the polycarboxylic acids, such as methyl esters, also can be used.
Where it is desired to produce air-drying alkyd resins from the polyester polymer, suitable drying oil fatty acids, such as those derived from linseed oil, soya bean oil, tall oil, dehydrated castor oil or tung oil, can be used to modify the polyester by methods well known to those skilled in the art. The polyester generally contains a portion of free hydroxyl and/or carboxyl groups which are available for crosslinking reaction with a crosslinking agent. Suitable crosslinking agents include amine or amide-aldehyde condensates or polyisocyanate curing agents as mentioned below.
Polyurethanes can also be used as the crosslinkable film-forming resin in the coating composition of the present invention. Suitable polyurethanes include polymeric polyols which are prepared by reacting polyester polyols or acrylic polyols such as those mentioned above with a polyisocyanate in an OH/NCO equivalent ratio of greater than 1:1 so that free hydroxyl groups are present in the product. Suitable organic polyisocyanates which can be used to prepare the polyurethane polyol include aliphatic or aromatic polyisocyanates or mixtures thereof. Diisocyanates are preferred, although higher polyisocyanates can be used in place of or in combination with diisocyanates.
The film-forming resin generally comprises about 10 to about 85 weight percent based upon total resin solids of the coating composition, and preferably about 20 to about 75 weight percent.
The crosslinkable film-forming system can comprise one or more crosslinking materials, such as aminoplasts, polyacids, anhydrides, polyisocyanates and mixtures thereof. The crosslinking material can be a separate component of the coating composition or can be incorporated into the film-forming resin, i.e. the film-forming resin can be self-crosslinking. The crosslinking material should be capable of reacting with at least one functionality on the graft copolymer of the invention such that when the coating composition is cured, the graft copolymer of the invention is incorporated into the crosslinked film structure of the cured coating. The amount of crosslinking material in the system generally ranges from about 15 to about 50 weight percent based upon total resin solids of the coating composition, and preferably ranges from about 25 to about 45 weight percent.
When amide or carbamate functional resins are present, aminoplast crosslinking materials are preferred. With hydroxy or epoxy functional resins, aminoplast, isocyanate functional or anhydride functional crosslinking agents are preferred. With acid functional resins, aminoplast or epoxy functional crosslinking materials are preferred. Additionally, acid or amine functional crosslinking materials can be used with epoxy functional resins. Isocyanate crosslinkers, including mono-, di-, and polyisocyanates can be used in conjunction with any of the active hydrogen containing or epoxy functional film-forming resins suitable for use in the coating composition.
Aminoplast crosslinking materials are suitable for use with most crosslinkable film-forming resins and are preferably present as the predominant crosslinking material in the coating composition. Suitable aminoplasts are made by reaction of materials bearing NH groups, such as urea, melamine, benzoguanamine, glycouril and cyclic ureas, with carbonyl compounds such as formaldehyde or higher aldehyde and ketones, and alcohols such as methanol ethanol, butanol propanol and hexanol. Condensation products obtained from the reaction of alcohols and formaldehyde with melamine, urea or benzoguanamine are most common and preferred herein. However, condensation products of other amines and amides can also be used, for example, aldehyde condensates of triazines, diazines, triazoles, guanadines, guanamines and alkyl- and aryl-substituted melamines.
The aminoplast crosslinking agent can be alkylated, for example, suitable aminoplast crosslinking agents include methylated and/or butylated or isobutylated melamine formaldehyde resins which are substantially monomeric or polymeric with a degree of polymerization ranging from about 1.2 to about 3.
The aminoplast resins can contain methylol or similar alkylol groups, and in most instances, at least a portion of these alkylol groups are etherified by reaction with an alcohol to provide organic solvent soluble resins. Any monohydric alcohol can be used to etherify the alkylol groups, including methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, pentanol, hexanol and heptanol, as well as benzyl alcohol and other aromatic alcohols, cyclic alcohols such as cyclohexanol, monoethers of glycols such as methoxypropanol and methoxyethoxyethanol, and halogen substituted or other substituted alcohols, such as 3-chloropropanol or butoxyethanol. Preferably, 3 to 6 methanol groups per molecule of melamine are reacted. Melamine formaldehyde resins with a mixture of etherification can also be used. Generally, these can range from mostly methylated groups with a minor amount of butylated groups to a substantial amount of butylated groups with a minor amount of methylated groups. Such crosslinking agents typically have a number average molecular weight of about 300 to about 600. Suitable aminoplast resins are commercially available from Cytec Industries Inc. under the trademark CYMEL and from Solutia, Inc. under the trademark RESIMENE.
Polyacid crosslinking materials suitable for use in the present invention on average generally contain greater than one acid group per molecule, more preferably three or more and most preferably four or more, such acid groups being reactive with epoxy functional film-forming polymers. Preferred polyacid crosslinking materials have di-, tri- or higher functionalities. Suitable polyacid crosslinking materials which can be used include carboxylic acid group-containing oligomers, polymers and compounds, such as acrylic polymers, polyesters, and polyurethanes and compounds having phosphorus-based acid groups.
Examples of suitable polyacid crosslinking materials include ester group-containing oligomers and compounds including half-esters formed from reacting polyols and cyclic 1,2-acid anhydrides or acid functional polyesters derived from polyols and polyacids or anhydrides. These half-esters are of relatively low molecular weight and are quite reactive with epoxy functionality. Suitable ester group-containing oligomers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,430, column 4, line 26 to column 5, line 68, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Other useful crosslinking materials include acid-functional acrylic crosslinkers made by copolymerizing methacrylic acid and/or acrylic acid monomers with other ethylenically unsaturated copolymerizable monomers as the polyacid crosslinking material. Alternatively, acid-functional acrylics can be prepared from hydroxy-functional acrylics reacted with cyclic anhydrides.
In an alternative embodiment in which the coating composition is essentially free of monohydroxylated diene polymers, one or more isocyanate-containing crosslinking materials can be used to crosslink the hydroxy functional film-forming resins. The equivalent ratio of isocyanate-functional groups of the isocyanate-containing crosslinking material to polar groups of components of the film-forming system, such as the film-forming resin and/or adhesion promoting agent, is greater than 0.8:1, preferably greater than 0.9:1, and more preferably greater than 1.1:1. Most preferably, the equivalent ratio is 1:1 to facilitate crosslinking.
Useful isocyanate-containing materials include aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aromatic di- or polyisocyanates, or mixtures thereof. Higher polyisocyanates are preferred, such as triisocyanates which can be used alone or in combination with diisocyanates. Examples of suitable aliphatic diisocyanates include trimethylene, tetramethylene, tetramethylxylylene, pentamethylene, hexamethylene, 1,2-propylene, 1,2-butylene, 2,3-butylene, and 1,3-butylene diisocyanates. Also suitable are cycloalkylene diisocyanates; aromatic diisocyanates; aliphatic-aromatic diisocyanates; nuclear-substituted aromatic diisocyanates; triisocyanates; tetraisocyanates; polymerized polyisocyanates such as hexamethylene diisocyanate trimers, isophorone diisocyanate trimers, toluene diisocyanate dimers and trimers; and the like. Isothiocyanates corresponding to the above-described isocyanates; where they exist, can be employed as well as mixtures of materials containing both isocyanate and isothiocyanate groups. Suitable isocyanates are commercially available from Bayer USA, Inc. under the trademarks MONDUR and DESMODUR.
The coating composition of the present invention can further comprise one or more compatibilizers to assist in overcoming incompatibility between the adhesion promoting agent of the invention, particularly any remaining free hydrocarbon diol, and the other components of the coating composition. When present, the amount of compatibilizer, as a distinct component in the coating composition separate from the adhesion promoting agent, crosslinkable film-forming resin and crosslinking material, can range from about 0.01 to about 60 weight percent, preferably from about 3 to about 50 weight percent, more preferably from about 5 to about 30 weight percent, and most preferably from about 7 to about 25 weight percent based on total resin solids of the coating composition. Suitable compatibilizers, such as hydrocarbon alcohols or resinous materials, are disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/212,784, herein incorporated by reference.
The coating composition of the present invention can also contain one or more dyes or pigments to give it color. Compositions containing metallic flake pigmentation are especially useful for the production of so-called xe2x80x9cglamour metallicxe2x80x9d finishes, chiefly upon the surface of automobile bodies and parts. Proper orientation of the metallic pigment results in a lustrous shiny appearance with excellent flop, distinctness of image and high gloss. Suitable metallic pigments include aluminum flakes, bronze flakes, coated mica, nickel flakes, tin flakes, silver flakes, copper flakes, or combinations thereof.
The coating compositions of the present invention also can contain non-metallic color pigments conventionally used in coating compositions, including inorganic pigments, such as titanium dioxide, talc, mica, iron oxides, lead oxides, chromium oxides, lead chromate and carbon black, including conductive carbon black, and organic pigments such as phthalocyanine blue and phthalocyanine green, as well as a variety of other color pigments. In general, the total amount of pigment in the coating composition ranges from about 1 to about 60 percent by weight based on weight of the total solids of the composition. The metallic pigment is preferably used in amounts of 0.5 to 25 percent by weight of the aforesaid aggregate weight. The specific pigment to binder ratio can vary widely so long as it provides the requisite hiding at desired film thickness and application solids. The coating compositions can also include conductive pigments, such as conductive carbon black or carbon fibrils.
If desired, the coating composition of the present invention can contain other materials well known in the art of formulating surface coatings, such as surfactants, flow control agents, thixotropic agents, fillers, anti-gassing agents, organic co-solvents, additional film-forming polymers, polymeric microparticles, catalysts and other conventional additives. Nonexclusive examples of useful solvents included in the composition, in addition to any provided by other coating components, include aliphatic solvents; aromatic and/or alkylated aromatic solvents such as toluene, xylene, and SOLVESSO 100; alcohols such as isopropanol; esters; ketones glycol ethers; and glycol ether esters. These other materials can constitute up to 40 percent by weight of the total weight of the resin solids of the coating composition.
The coating composition of the present invention can be made using techniques well known to those skilled in the art. The percent by weight solids content of the coating composition preferably varies from about 5 to about 100 percent. Preferably, the percent by weight of solids is about 12 to about 70 percent. The coating composition can be present in the form of a liquid or powder. When the coating composition is present as a liquid, viscosity of the coating composition preferably ranges from about 10 to about 40 seconds, preferably from about 12 to about 25 seconds as measured using a #4 Ford Cup.
The coating composition of the present invention can be made as a solvent-borne, water-borne or powder composition using techniques well known to those skilled in the art for making such compositions. For example, for water-borne coating or aqueous-based compositions, the adhesion promoting agent can be dispersed in water by any technique known in the art. One technique described in European Patent Application No. 601,665 includes heating a solution of the adhesion promoting agent until its viscosity is less than 3000 centipoise, adding a mixture of water and surfactant under high speed agitation, cooling the dispersion and then optionally subjecting the dispersion to turbulent flow and/or cavitation in an apparatus such as a MICROFLUIDIZER available from Microfluidics Corporation, Newton, Massachusetts.
As an alternative to microfluidization, the components can be added in a manner and order under agitation in a suitable container to obtain the proper oil-in-water inversion. Often, use of additional solvent(s) such as coalescing solvents are used to prepare water-borne coatings. Examples of useful coalescing solvents include: propylene carbonate, glycols including ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, and 2,2,4-trimethyl pentane-1,3-diol, glycol ether alcohols including ethylene glycol butyl ether, diethylene glycol butyl ether, ethylene glycol hexyl ether, propylene glycol methyl ether, propylene glycol propyl ether, and propylene glycol phenyl ether, lower alcohols including isopropanol, butanol, p-amyl alcohol, and tridecyl alcohol, and the like. Ethylene glycol hexyl ether is preferred. The coalescing solvent can be present in amounts ranging from about 5 to about 40 percent by weight, and preferably 15 to 30 percent by weight based on total solids weight of the aqueous dispersion. Suitable powder composition forming techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,101, column 8, lines 9-18, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The coating compositions of the present invention are useful as coating compositions for various thermoplastic and thermosetting polymeric substrates, for example, thermoplastic olefins including polyethylene and polypropylene substrates; reaction injected molding urethane (RIM) substrates; EPDM rubber substrates; and their blends. The coating composition can be applied to at least a portion of the surface of the substrate by conventional means including brushing, dipping, flow coating, spraying and the like but is most often applied by spraying. Conventionally known techniques and equipment for manual or automatic spraying and electrostatic spraying can be used. Although conventional application means are employed, the coating composition is deposited directly onto the surface of the polymeric substrate without the need of an adhesion promoter, tie coat layer or corona pretreatment.
During application of the coating composition to the polymeric substrate, a film of the coating composition is formed on the substrate. Typically, the film thickness ranges from about 0.01 to about 5.0 mils (about 0.254 to about 127 xcexcm), preferably 0.08 to 3.0 mils (5.1 to 76.2 xcexcm). When the coating composition is used as a primer, preferably the dry film thickness is about 0.08 to about 3.0 mils (about 5.1 to about 76.2 xcexcm) and most preferably from 0.08 to 2.0 mils (5.1 to 50.8 xcexcm). When used as a basecoat or topcoat including clear topcoat, preferably the dry film thickness is about 0.2 to about 3.0 mils (about 5.1 to about 76.2 xcexcm).
After the application of the coating composition to the polymeric or other substrate, the coated substrate may be heated to cure the coating material or cure the coating layers of a basecoat-clearcoat system. In some instances, simply air drying the coating composition will be sufficient. In the curing process, organic solvents and/or water are driven out of the deposited film and the film-forming materials of the coating composition are crosslinked with the aid of the crosslinking resins present. The heating or curing operation is usually carried out at a temperature that is below the melting point of the plastic substrate to which the coating composition has been applied, generally of about 60xc2x0 F. to about 350xc2x0 F. (about 15xc2x0 C. to about 177xc2x0 C.), preferably of about 160xc2x0 F. to about 350xc2x0 F. (about 71xc2x0 C. to about 177xc2x0 C.), and most preferably from about 235xc2x0 F. to about 275xc2x0 F. (about 113xc2x0 C. to about 132xc2x0 C.). During curing, the selected crosslinking material reacts with the film-forming resin and at least one reactive functionality on graft copolymer, e.g., a functionality on the hydrocarbon polymer portion of the graft copolymer, such that the graft copolymer of the invention is incorporated into the crosslinked structure of the cured coating.
When the coating composition is used as a primer, subsequent topcoats such as conventional basecoat-clearcoat composites or conventional monocoat topcoats can be applied to the primer film. Optionally, when the coating composition is used as a basecoat, a subsequent conventional clearcoat can be applied to the dried or cured basecoat film. Usually when the coating composition of the present invention is used as a basecoat, the deposited basecoat film is flashed at ambient conditions for about 1 to about 5 minutes before the clearcoat is applied xe2x80x9cwet on wetxe2x80x9d, then the basecoat-clearcoat composite is cured as detailed above. Still further, when used as a primer or an adhesion promoter layer, the coating composition can be air flashed for about 0.5 to about 30 minutes for subsequent application of topcoat layer(s) or, alternatively, can be pre-baked to a cured film prior to topcoat application.
The present invention will now be illustrated by the following specific, non-limiting Example. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated.
The following Examples show the preparation of various pigmented film-forming coating compositions of the invention incorporating adhesion promoting agents of the invention.